a midwest fairy tale

fairy tale

I took this photo near Funks Grove on a recent photo trip with my Dad. We saw a train bridge nearby and decided to go exploring.  We found this old silo hidden along the tracks and it immediately captured my imagination.  It almost seemed like a fairy tale tower...like Rapunzel had once escaped from its heights. It was a fantastic find.

I edited the picture almost right away when I got back. I really went to town on it to give it the feel I wanted. The leaves in the foreground were all green.  I wanted it to feel more like fall, so I changed them to shades of red and orange.   I added my textures, as usual, and it took a lot of playing to make it look a bit faded.  Sometimes I have a hard time finding the balance between texture and photo.  I don't want the details in the photo to be completely washed out, but at the same time I want to give it a painterly quality.  So it really ends up coming down to trial and error with these...just playing around until something works for me.

In other news, I will actually post some photos of my fall decor in the near-ish future for the my imaginary followers to admire.  I am excited to find 5 actual, factual followers now...and four of them aren't my Mom!

Amish

Amish children

This photo is from Arthur, IL. I saw this kids playing and thought that they were adorable. I just want to give the one in the center a big hug. So cute! This photo took me a while to edit. I had to remove some monkey bars from the foreground and a big red pickup truck in the background. Then I changed the saturation in the photo and added texture.

So to my personal life...the house is almost done! All that's left to paint are touch ups. Hooray. We'll probably spend a day or so cleaning after that and then we can move in. Finally!!! It took forever! I don't know when we will get internet access, but it may be until October. Ugh. I don't know how we'll do it. I remember a time without internet, but I can't imagine doing it again. I would not make a good Amish. I need my technology! :)

I'll try to post again before the big move. I have a couple of more photos all ready to be published. Later!

This is what you get when you raise cattle next to power lines...

"two headed bovine"

Just a quick hello to the world on the internet. I am feeling a tidbit sick tonight. I woke up with a sore throat, and I am now sneezing. It's probably my own fault. I have a hard time falling asleep at night. I figured out that I may be keeping myself up late accidentally on purpose. I have so little free time right now. The only time I really get to myself is when I go to bed. My mind usually races for a long while and I will decide to get up and read or play with my computer for a while in order to have some me time. It's not on purpose, really, it just sort of happens. Not only that, but I went to part of the home football game this evening. It was drizzling, and I'm sure the damp hasn't helped with the sore throat. Such is life.

So that's all from me. The photo above was taken in the early springtime of this year. I had wanted to edit it earlier, but I had already done two other photos from the same photo trip, and I didn't want to overwhelm my Flickr page with too many similar shots at once. I absolutely love this shot. The power lines and the perfect perspective on the animals makes for a funny shot. I hope you enjoyed this tiny bit of levity! ;)

Oh, by the way, I collect cow stuff oddly enough. It's a weird story, but one for another time, I think. My favorite cow object is a clock my husband (then boyfriend) got for me in Switzerland during our band trip my senior year of high school. It has a swinging udder pendulum, and is the epitome of tacky. I love it. It was hanging in my kitchen in Ann Arbor. :) If you are interested, I have a few cow photos, and you can see them all in this Flickr set: Moo.

In the Rain, revisited

"In the Rain, revisited"

Just thought that while I was here, and actually posting, that I would quickly put up my newest photo. This is one of my favorite shots that I have taken, and I had wanted to go back and revisit it now that I have learned how to do texturing a bit better. You can see the original edit here. Enjoy!

Evergreen

"Evergreen"

So. I'm going to be gone for a couple of days. The funeral for my husband's Grandpa is tomorrow evening. So, in the meantime, enjoy my newest pic. Hopefully I'll be able to get a few spring photos in soon.

Joined

"Joined"

My newest photo. Enjoy!!! :)

It's Not Easy Being Green...

"It's not easy being green..."

This barn is just outside of Normal, Illinois, and it really truly is green. My Dad and I were on a photo trip and we were just about to call it quits for the day when we caught a glimpse of this barn. We of course had to stop and take some shots. :)

So, the funeral for my husband's grandfather is on Friday. We're back in Michigan, but we're going to make another trip to Illinois on Thursday night. My poor husband has what is essentially his final for his Trial Advocacy class on Thursday night. He has a mock trial and he's being graded for his performance. It seems like bad timing, but I guess that is how it goes, though.

Toll

"Time has taken its toll..."

Just my latest photo. Enjoy!

There's no new news on my Grandfather-in-law, but as soon as I hear anything, I'll post something.

No Trespassing

"No Trespassing"

This photo was processed using a variety of techniques that were then layered on top of each other to give the photo this look. Anyways, this old grain elevator is just outside Normal, Illinois.

Yesterday my husband found out that his Grandfather is in the hospital. He's evidently not doing so well. It sounds like he may have lung cancer and it may have metastasized to his liver. We're waiting to hear more. Prayers are definitely needed.

A better day

"untitled"

So, today has been infinitely better than the past several. I found someone to cover my shift, so I was able to sleep in today...I really needed that. I feel so much better. I'm still a bit congested, but the fever is gone, I can breath and I have energy again.

I was contacted a couple of months ago about using my photos for a calendar. It's for an agricultural company that test for toxins. I hadn't heard from contact in awhile, so I emailed him and he got back to me today. I probably won't know until the fall if they are going to use my photos. However, he did offer me another calendar too. This one is for a company that works with seniors called Summit Elder Care. I created a set for him with photos that fit the description he gave me, but I definitely need to take some more photos for this one. It sounds great, and I think I've made a permanent contact. At least he said that we "need to work together."

I also found out today that Schmap used my Roman Forum photo for their Italy guide.

Anyways, the photo above is my newest creation. Enjoy!

Railroad

"Railroad"

This was taken near the Yuton Grain Elevator outside Normal, Illinois. Enjoy! :)

A blue door

"a blue door"

This is my newest image. I don't like the title too much, so if you can think of a better one, that'd be nice. :) This was taken just outside Normal, Illinois.

ArtBistro Art Gallery March

"Duncan Manor"

My husband wanted to watch something yesterday and we often use my computer as a TV or something. The video was lagging and so he closed down a lot of the windows that were open on my computer. Luckily, Blogger saves drafts, or my last post would never have been posted. :) So, pretend that it was posted yesterday.

Anyways, I found out today that the picture above was featured in Art Bistro's March Art Gallery! I guess they take the highest ranked or most popular images posted in a given month, or maybe the "curator" chooses them. I have no idea really. I only joined Art Bistro about a month ago at the request of one of my household sisters. I didn't think that I was going to actually like the site, since I already have Flickr. I guess I was wrong.

So. I've made a little over a week now with this blog! Be prepared for fizzling soon! :)

bull

"bull"

So I got back from my trip home last nigh--no, wait, this morning, just 2 and a half hours before I needed to be at work. I haven't slept yet, for reasons that are eluding me. I just keep on keeping myself awake...maybe not lucid, though. I'm sure that will become more and more evident as I type up this entry.

So the trip home yesterday was a trial. We left later than we had wanted to, mainly due to the fact that someone...probably my darling husband...left a light on in the car that drained the battery. We were at his grandparents at the time and they had us use something called a trickle charger. Well, the name is pretty accurate. It only put out 50 amps and that really wasn't cutting it.

Well, we next tried to use his Grandmother's car to jump start ours. This proved problematic, though, since she had a newer vehicle and for some reason the battery wasn't really accessible. There was a positive node to hook the cable to, but the negative was nowhere to be seen. So, we had to bring another car down to jump start our car.

Well, this one worked, but it was suggested that we turn the engine off and then turn it back on to see if it worked. I don't know how any of us thought that this was a good idea, because it's pretty much common knowledge that you should leave the engine running for a while after a jump to charge up the battery. Well....we did it anyways...twice, in fact. The car started up the first time. The second time I turned the engine off so we could put the battery cover back on. When I tried to start the engine again, it was dead. Sometimes I can be such the idiot.

So we jumped started the car again, and this time we let it run for about ten minutes before doing anything else. Somehow, though, the anti-lock brakes got temporarily messed up, so that anytime the car got below 10 mph they kicked on. It was supremely annoying. We drove home anyways and the problem seemed to correct itself, since it seems to be working fine now.

All of this would have been far less frustrating, though, if earlier I hadn't agreed to switch shifts at work. I was now opening the store, which meant that I had to be at work at 5:00 am.

Most of the actual trip back home was uneventful. There was an unusally large number of unmarked white vans pulled over by cops along the way, which I found a bit interesting. We also passed by a semi that had hit a deer and then fell into a ditch. It was lying on its side, and it wasn't until I ran over the recently dead deer that I realized what had happened.

So, anyways, the picture above is my most recent creation. I took it while I was home on a photography trip with my Dad. This bull was lazing around in a pasture with a bunch of other bulls just outside Bloomington.

So that's enough of that. :)